Tag: blogtour

#Giveaway Blog Tour: Marry Me at Willoughby Close by Kate Hewitt

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The spotlight today is on Marry Me at Willoughby Close, the latest in the bestselling Willoughby Close series by Kate Hewitt. I’m thrilled to bring you a fascinating guest post from Kate all about the challenges of writing a series.

Plus there’s a giveaway (INTL) with a chance to win a £10 Amazon giftcard (Kate will convert the amount depending on the location of the winner). To enter the giveaway, click here.

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MarryMeAtWilloughbyCloseAbout the Book

Welcome to Willoughby Close… a charming cluster of cozy cottages, each with a story to tell and a happy ending to deliver…

Alice James has been a drifter her whole life, working her way through several foster homes before ending up in Wychwood-on-Lea, feeling anchorless and invisible. When a chance encounter leads to Alice accepting a position as a caretaker and companion to Lady Stokeley, she starts to feel as if she might finally be able to put down some roots and live the way other people do. Then, Lady Stokeley’s nephew, city banker Henry Trent, storms into Willoughby Manor, seeming to find fault with everything, including Alice. As the next in line to the manor and title, he threatens to upturn everything she’s started to build. But Henry is hiding his own secret fears and weaknesses, ones he’s desperate for no one to discover. A surprising and inconvenient attraction that simmers between them leaves Alice feeling more confused than ever, and Henry torn between duty and desire, fear and love. When circumstances become even more difficult, both Alice and Henry must decide who they really are, and what they are willing to fight for. Could Alice possibly the next Lady of Willoughby Manor?

Format: ebook Publisher: Tule Publishing Pages:
Publication: 18th July 2017 Genre: Women’s Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Kobo ǀ itunes
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Marry Me at Willoughby Close on Goodreads

Guest Post: ‘Writing a Series’ by Kate Hewitt

I’ve written several different series before, but the books have been loosely linked and completely stand alone, so I haven’t really considered them a series in the truest sense of the word. While each story in Willoughby Close is stand alone, more or less, there is an overarching story to do with the fate of Willoughby Manor and its lone resident, Lady Stokeley, so readers would benefit from reading all four books in order.

Writing a series that is so connected definitely has its challenges. I’ve had to remember to get minor details consistent in each book – for example, Oliver’s father was a baronet in Meet Me at Willoughby Close and then was called a viscount in Find Me at Willoughby Close. Thankfully my copy-editor picked up on the discrepancy!

Another challenge has been writing characters from different points of view. The heroine of Meet Me at Willoughby Close, Ellie Matthews, is seen differently by the other books’ heroines, Harriet, Ava, and Alice. At first Harriet pities her, Ava is annoyed by her, and Alice is overwhelmed. They all become friends in the end, but I wanted to make sure Ellie’s character stayed the same even when it was perceived differently, and the same for the other characters and how they are perceived.

It has also been a challenge to write the overarching story of Lady Stokeley through all four books, and keep her character moving forward without seeming inconsistent. Writing Lady Stokeley’s story has probably been my favourite part of the series – and she received increasing page time as the series progressed, which was somewhat of a surprise to me and not what I originally had planned!

All in all, I was sad to say goodbye to Willoughby Close, and am tempted to revisit Wychwood-on-Lea with a story about Olivia, the woman who runs the café. In the meantime, I am working on a new four-book series, The Holley Sisters of Thornthwaite, so I must like writing series, despite the challenges!

Happy Reading,

Kate

Thank you, Kate! Authors – some great tips here, not least the importance of a good copy-editor! Readers – it’s always good to be reminded, isn’t it, of the work involved for an author in adding to a favourite series.

KateHewittAbout the Author

Kate Hewitt is the author of over 60 novels of romance and women’s fiction. An American ex-pat and former diehard New Yorker, she now lives in a market town in South Wales with her husband, five children, and overly affectionate Golden Retriever.

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Blog Tour: Court of Lions by Jane Johnson

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I’m thrilled to host today’s stop on the blog tour for Court of Lions by Jane Johnson and to bring you my review of this fascinating story which moves between 15th century and present day Granada.

CourtofLionsAbout the Book

Kate Fordham, escaping terrible trauma, has fled to the beautiful sunlit city of Granada, the ancient capital of the Moors in Spain, where she is scraping by with an unfulfilling job in a busy bar. One day in the glorious gardens of the Alhambra, once home to Sultan Abu Abdullah Mohammed, also known as Boabdil, Kate finds a scrap of paper hidden in one of the ancient walls. Upon it, in strange symbols, has been inscribed a message from another age. It has lain undiscovered since before the Fall of Granada in 1492, when the city was surrendered to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. Born of love, in a time of danger and desperation, the fragment will be the catalyst that changes Kate’s life forever.  Court of Lions brings one of the great turning-points in history to life, telling the stories of a modern woman and the last Moorish sultan of Granada, as they both move towards their cataclysmic destinies.

Format: Hardcover Publisher: Head of Zeus Pages: 397
Publication: 6th July 2017 Genre: Historical Fiction    

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Court of Lions on Goodreads

My Review

The story of Sultan Abu Abdullah Mohammed, known as Momo, is related through the eyes of Blessings, a slave brought as a young orphan from a desert tribe to be his companion.  Despite the difference in their status, Blessings and Momo form a deep and lasting friendship although, for Blessings, the relationship becomes more than friendship. Their relationship will be tested over the years of political turmoil and war as Granada fights for its survival against the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and to protect the Muslim faith of its people.

I found the story of Sultan Abu Abdullah Mohammed utterly compelling and admired the way the author brought it to life in such vivid and colourful detail. For me, there was a perfect balance between the intimate, personal story of Momo and Blessings and the wider story of the historical events of the time – the plots, alliances, treaties, battles and defeats.   Ultimately, both Momo and Blessings are forced to make heart-breaking compromises.

In the contemporary story, Kate’s troubles are domestic in nature and gradually revealed throughout the novel. For her Granada is a refuge and a chance to leave behind unhappy memories and traumatic events.   The scrap of paper she finds in a crevice in the walls of the Alhambra and a chance encounter eventually provides the opportunity for her to move on in her life but not before she is forced to confront her traumatic past. Although expertly told, I wasn’t drawn to Kate’s story as much as the parts of the book set in the past. Shared themes of secrets, religious fundamentalism and discrimination were there but subtle. Personally, I would have liked slightly more substantial links between the two stories as, at times, they felt rather disconnected from each other.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of Head of Zeus in return for an honest review.

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In three words: Compelling, well-researched, intimate

JaneJohnsonAbout the Author

Jane Johnson is from Cornwall and has worked in the book industry for over 20 years, as a bookseller, publisher and writer. She is responsible for the publishing of many major authors, including George RR Martin. In 2005 she was in Morocco researching the story of a distant family member who was abducted from a Cornish church in 1625 by Barbary pirates and sold into slavery in North Africa, when a near-fatal climbing incident caused her to rethink her future. She returned home, gave up her office job in London, and moved to Morocco. She married her own ‘Berber pirate’ and now they split their time between Cornwall and a village in the Anti-Atlas Mountains. She still works, remotely, as Fiction Publishing Director for HarperCollins.

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